Scott Jackson
Student # 49242027
Assignment #1
Selection of Curriculum Area, Grade Level, and Rationale
Grade – Kindergarten
Subject Area – Social Studies and Language Arts
Themed Unit – Community Helpers
Community helpers will be the unit of focus for this project in order to help the kindergarten teacher at my school.
I have been teaching for five years, therefore I consider myself to be a newer teacher, however I have been in the library for four of those years and I am close to completing my Library Diploma. Therefore, I do have some good experience in this area, but there is still a lot to learn as I am applying my schooling to my practice. Unlike many newer teachers that have many different grade levels at the start of their career I have been lucky enough to be able to focus on one area. I have been at Errington elementary for three years. My first year there was three days per week, last year I had two days at two different school libraries, and in the most recent year I was at Errington for four days. This year was great as I had more time at school to really learn the collection and assess the needs. I am looking forward to next year when I will be full time at this school.
I have selected kindergarten and community helpers for a number of reasons:
(1) After being in my school for three years I really understand the collection and I have found the primary non-fiction section is in need of help. As an intermediate trained teacher and I have spent more time in that area on the books because I was more confortable with books for this area. The previous teacher-librarians before me were primary teachers and they were spending more money on the primary area. Last year my school hired three new primary teachers that did not have as many resources as their predecessors. It was when they came to me that I realized how dated some of the primary resources were.
(2) Community helpers is the selected unit because this is a unit of study that is done every year in our school by the primary grades. By updating this section I will be helping four teachers.
(3) By selecting a primary grade I will be pushing myself to work in an area where I am less familiar with in regards to the IRPs and what is expected from the students with their work output.
(4) When the kindergarten teacher approached me last year about buying some new materials for community helpers for her upcoming unit, I responded with buying 10-15 books to help her get by for that year. I would like to have a closer look at those books and see how well they cover the material and compare them do the dated materials to see what I can weed and what I can purchase in the upcoming year.
Curriculum Objectives and Links to Curriculum Guides
The following IRPs are from the Ministry of Education from the Government of BC. The IRPs selected are for the Kindergarten age group and include IRPs from Language Arts and Social Studies.
There are only a few IRPs from Social Studies that are directly connected to community helpers. The Language Arts IRPs are included as these are IRPs that will be used during the unit. Learning about community helpers is only one part of the unit as this topic is used as an avenue for students to learn how to read, write, discuss, and learn.
Kindergarten
Prescribed Learning Outcomes: English Language Arts
Language Arts
It is expected that students will:
Developing oral language (speaking and listening) abilities
Oral Language Learning and Extending Thinking
A2 engage in speaking and listening activities to share ideas about pictures, stories, information text, and experiences
A4 demonstrate being a good listener for a sustained period of time
A5 demonstrate being a good speaker (including sustaining conversation on a familiar topic)
A6 use oral language to explain, inquire, and compare
A7 experiment with language and demonstrate enhanced vocabulary usage
Strategies for Oral Language
A8 connect what is already known with new experiences during speaking and listening activities
A9 ask questions to construct and clarify meaning
Features of Oral Language
A11 speak clearly enough to be understood by peers and adults
Developing reading and viewing abilities
Learning Reading (and Viewing) and Extending Thinking
B1 demonstrate awareness of the connection between reading, writing, and oral language
B2 respond to literature through a variety of activities (e.g., role playing, art, music, choral reading, talking)
B3 engage in reading or reading-like behaviour
Strategies for Learning to Read and View
B4 in discussions, use strategies before reading and viewing to enhance comprehension, including
- accessing prior knowledge
- predicting
- making connections
- asking questions scribed Learning Outcomes:
Developing Writing and Representing Abilities
Learning Writing (and Representing) and Extending Thinking
C1 create simple messages using a combination of pictures, symbols, letters, and words to convey meaning
C3 show an interest in, and a positive attitude toward, writing and representing
Strategies for Learning to Write and Represent
C4 engage in discussions before writing and representing to generate ideas when responding to text and classroom experiences (e.g., observing, listening, using the other senses, drawing, brainstorming, listing, webbing, partner-talk)
C5 express meaning during writing and representing by using invented spelling and copying existing words/representations
C6 engage in discussions after writing or representing about the experience of writing or representing and share work with others
Social Studies
It is expected that students will:
Identity, Society, and Culture
B2 identify groups and places that are part of their lives
Governance
C1 describe their roles and responsibilities as members of the classroom and school community
Economy and Technology
D1 identify individual human needs
D2 identify work done in their community
Source
The above information on the BC IRPs can be found through the BC Ministry of Education’s webpage. The attached links below are directed to the content areas.
Language Arts IRP link:
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/course.php?lang=en&subject=English_Language_Arts&course=English_Language_Arts_Kindergarten_to_Grade_7&year=2006
Social Studies IRPs link:
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/course.php?lang=en&subject=Social_Studies&course=Social_Studies_K_to_7&year=2006
